1. Will a Charlie Banana cloth diaper fit a skinny baby like a Fuzzibunz? My husband isn't convinced that cloth diapers are a good thing and so I am afraid of spending money on something that won't work as well.
In my opinion, after doing some research, it looks as though Charlie Banana diapers (left) and Fuzzibunz (right) diapers are built very similarly, so they would probably be very similar in fit. Both diapers come in sized options from XS through XL, as well as one-size options. Both have hip snaps and both use an adjustable leg elastic by means of a button hole. There are a couple differences in the one-size diapers, however. Charlie Banana diapers do not have an adjustable elastic in the waist and the leg elastics do adjust similar to Fuzzibunz in that they use a button hole adjusting elastic system, but only on one end of the elastic. The other end is sewn in, which makes for a more difficult task of replacing elastic if need be. Fuzzibunz do have an adjustable waist elastic and each leg elastic has a button on both ends so you can easily unbutton both ends and pull the elastic out if it needs to be replaced. Each Fuzzibunz diaper also comes with replacement elastics as well. One of the biggest differences between the diapers is the placement of the pocket. Charlie Banana diapers have the pocket up front, whereas Fuzzibunz is located in the back. The Charlie Banana pocket has a flap over closure and you can use a disposable insert, which would lay on top of the pocket and the end of the disposable insert slides under the flap where it would be held in place. This is different from the Fuzzibunz pocket, which does not have a flap closure. The prices on these two diapers are also very similar: Charlie Banana one-size is $20.88 for a solid color or $21.88 for print (Charlie Banana diapers can be purchased at Babies 'R Us). Fuzzibunz one-size costs $19.95, but do not have a print option and can only be purchased online.2. How do you deal with cloth diapers in public? Or when you're not near a toilet to dispose of the "soil"?
With a good ole wetbag :) Planet Wise medium size wetbags are great for the diaper bag. Have you ever had a disposable diaper that you were unable to dispose of right away? When I was using disposable diapers with my first child, I would carry a couple of plastic bags and in these situations I would simply fold up the diaper and place it in the plastic bag and tie a knot. As soon as I came across a garbage can, I would then dispose of it. It's kind of the same with cloth diapers. If you aren't near a toilet to dispose of the "soil" when changing a cloth diaper, you simply close up the diaper (I just kinda roll it and bring the flaps around front) and then place it in my wetbag (as in the picture above on the right) and zip it up. The smell and "soil" are contained within the wetbag and when you come across a restroom or toilet, you dump the waste. The diaper goes back in your wetbag to take home to launder.3. What do you do when you leave your kids with babysitters that don't know how to use cloth diapers? Do you train them or just let them use disposables? Especially if you're leaving your kids for a few days?
Depending on your preference and the reason you are using cloth diapers to begin with, this question has a couple of different answers. If you're using cloth because you want to save money, or your child has very sensitive skin and isn't able to be in disposable diapers, then yes, training your babysitter on how to use cloth is the route you would want to go. I personally don't like having to switch to disposables for babysitters, because that defeats my reasoning for using cloth in the first place...to save money. I will usually pull out my easiest cloth diapers (the ones closest to disposables as far as simplicity goes) such as my AIOs or pockets that are already stuffed and ready to be used, and do a quick rundown on how to use them before leaving the babysitter with my kids. I will either pull out an empty wetbag that usually goes in my diaper bag and ask the sitter to place any diapers changed into the wetbag. I don't ask them to clean out my diapers or do anything to deal with them other than to fold them nicely and put them in there, wipes and all, after changing baby. I try to make it as simple as possible for them. It is very convenient if you can use the same babysitter who already knows how to use them, or have someone who uses cloth themselves sit for your child *wink*. If I am leaving my kids for a few days with someone, unless they would be comfortable using the cloth diapers and laundering them (which is highly unlikely) then I will usually supply them with disposables. Also on long vacations, if laundry facilities are not available or it is not feasible to bring all my cloth diapers, then I will bring along disposables. It's all a matter of preference.
Thanks to Monica, Heidi, and Brittney for this week's questions on Q & A Friday. I hope I've answered them clearly for you. Feel free to throw out any others you may have!
Have a great Friday and a fun weekend :)
Brit
